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May 15, 2017 - A row of BBQ sauce sits on a shelf at Central BBQ, located at 147 E Butler Ave., on Monday. Collierville or Germantown will be the first new destination for the Central BBQ chain as it takes its style of smoked pork outside Memphis to cities throughout the Southeast.(Photo: Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal)Buy Photo

Good morning in Memphis, where we’re taking a bite out of the Big Apple, but first …

Manifest Destiny of Memphis Barbecue: It’s barbecue contest week, but even then more Memphians may consume cue within one of the city’s dozens of bbq restaurants this week than down on the river. Barbecue, is, of course, a year-round passion. So perhaps it’s appropriate that Barbecue Week begins with some restaurant news.

Jennifer and Ted Evanoff report that Central BBQ, in partnership with Kemmons Wilson Companies, will expand, first only to Germantown or Collierville, but then, in a second wave, to cities in between Dallas, on the western front, and Knoxville to the east.

If any local restaurant seems primed to become a regional or even national chain, following Gus’s Fried Chicken, Central feels like the best bet. It’s still a relative newbie on the deep Memphis barbecue scene, and the regionalism of barbecue styles could be something of a barrier to national expansion. (Nashville “hot chicken” fad aside, fried chicken is fried chicken from sea to shining sea.) But there’s a reason Central was such a fast hit. They take care of the Memphis cue ribs and pork shoulder basics, but also give people who may not want that other ace options (wings, nachos, and salads among the best bets). They’ve also created an atmosphere that’s appealing, both substantial and relaxed.

Everyone has their barbecue favorites in Memphis, and Central isn’t at the tippy top of my own list. But it seems to be a place that pretty much everyone likes. Here’s hoping they one day offer ex-pat Memphians brick-and-mortar refuge from coast to coast.

Does Anyone Really Want This?: Memphis made some news it didn’t want on Friday, when Attorney General Jeff Sessions invoked the city (I guess they’ve gotten tired of just using Chicago):

In a speech directing federal prosecutors to pursue stricter charging and sentencing guidelines, Attorney General Jeff Sessions mentioned Memphis as one of the cities in the country that has seen a spike in violent crime and require these tougher tactics.

Criminal justice reform had been perhaps America’s most fertile ground of bipartisan political work, with people across the political spectrum seeing the cost of mass incarceration and working together on issues such as sentencing, drug laws and bail. Among those pushing back against Sessions’ Memphis-citing Friday announcement was Rand Paul, Republican senator from Kentucky:

The attorney general on Friday made an unfortunate announcement that will impact the lives of millions of Americans: he issued new instructions for prosecutors to charge suspects with the most serious provable offenses, "those that carry the most substantial guidelines sentence, including mandatory minimum sentences."

Mandatory minimum sentences have unfairly and disproportionately incarcerated a generation of minorities.

Memphis, Capital of Adaptive Reuse (Mid-South Version): Ted Evanoff reports that a Chinese textile producer will spend $410 million to convert a former Sanyo appliance plant in Forrest City, Arkansas, into a yarn mill. I read this with a lot of personal interest. I grew up, for the most part, in Forrest City, where both my mother and stepfather worked at the Sanyo plant. We’re used to manufacturing/industrial jobs leaving our small towns, not coming back. So this is good news for a town that probably really needs it (I don’t have connections there any more). But it’s also good news for Memphis, which will likely be the first stop for distributing all the new product:

A yarn mill big enough to consume the Arkansas Delta’s entire cotton harvest will open in Forrest City and export yarn worldwide through Memphis and Western ports.

Memphis Takes Manhattan (or Brooklyn), Part Two:

Bokeys and Don Bryant have landed in NYC. Show tomorrow night at Baby's All Right in Williamsburg. Come get some Memphis soul NYC.

Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings suggests in a new Just City podcast that, per Ryan Poe’s math, the city needs an increase in police staffing that could cost $28 million annually.

The NBA draft lottery is tonight. The Grizzlies don’t (currently) have a pick in this summer’s rookie draft, but that doesn’t mean next year’s team won’t have a rookie. Ron Tillery takes a look at incoming Grizzly Rade Zagorac.